After a highly anticipated event, PDXWIT founder Megan Bigelow felt empty, let down, and embarrassed. Her self-examination of why led her to powerful, personal revelations about self-doubt and identity.

When it comes to programming, sometimes getting started is the hardest part. Here are 8 lessons from someone who picked up and dropped learning how to program multiple times before finally committing to learning one last time. Now six months into working as a full-time programmer, she has lots of lessons to be shared!